HEREFORDSHIRE Council is not yet giving up on Hereford’s former Working Boys Home being a site for the city’s new fire station.

 In a statement this morning, the council outlines an intention to continue “positive dialogue” with Hereford & Worcester Fire & Rescue Service (HWFRS) on fire station sites.

 This, the statement says, will include an assessment as to whether the Bath Street site remains a possible option.

HWFRS has confirmed that the existing application for the new station – and related demolition works – at Bath Street has been withdrawn after “extensive consultation” with the “wider community”.

But a new fire station elsewhere “in the heart of Hereford” is still to be considered.

The council originally identified the site – which it has vacated as offices - as a suitable location for a new fire station and agreed a swap deal with HWFRS.

City heritage campaigners have been fighting to save the Working Boys Home since the Hereford Times revealed the deal earlier this year.

Founded in 1875, the Hereford and District Working Boys’ Home and Industrial School was supported by city benefactor John Venn.

English Heritage, however, rejected an application to list the site.

With the deal signed off by a single council cabinet member behind closed doors, HWFRS  submitted a planning application in August.

But the service has recognized “significant concerns” were raised by a number of groups relating to the place of the development within the city’s conservation area.

In response to the withdrawal the council has issued a statement saying it “understood” the current position of HWFRS  and its decision on Bath Street in Hereford.

“We wish to continue positive dialogue with the fire service to assist them to bring forward suitable solutions for the delivery of a new fire station in the city centre.

"This will include an assessment as to whether the Bath Street site remains a possible option,” the statement said.